Despite great scientific advances over the past decade, the translation of these discoveries to the benefit of patients has been hampered by a number of traditional barriers. The overall goal of the Mount Sinai Institutes of Clinical &Translational Sciences is to establish a new research paradigm at Mount Sinai, which will create an integrated multidisciplinary environment that will enable translation of cutting-edge research more quickly and easily from "bench-to-bedside-to-implementation" in the community;train and create an "academic home" for the clinical and translational investigators of tomorrow;and supply the governance, facilities, resources and opportunities needed to elevate the clinical research enterprise so that clinical investigators can take full advantage of Mount Sinai's Translational Research Institutes and potential collaborators in Mount Sinai Hospital and its affiliates, the School of Medicine and partnering institutions, and other CTSA programs around the country. This transformation will be achieved by fulfilling the following Specific Aims: (1) redesign the institutional research enterprise infrastructure and governance by integrating research functions across administrative, departmental and intellectual boundaries, enhancing and promoting interactions between basic scientists and clinical investigators, and streamlining administrative procedures to facilitate the start-up of clinical trials and the dissemination of results;(2) establish a Translational Discoveries Program to facilitate and expedite clinical research by providing consultation, oversight and facilities for clinical and translational research, engaging the surrounding community and our affiliates to rapidly translate health benefits to the general population, and developing new methodologies to improve clinical trial design and reduce participant burden;(3) train and support the translational investigators of tomorrow by overseeing a multi-disciplinary, doctoral degree-granting program in clinical and translational research for all health care professionals, developing a program to recruit, enhance career development and retain clinical and translational researchers, providing an academic home where new collaborations can be formulated;(4) establish an Experimental Therapeutics&Technologies Program to stimulate the development of new methodologies in clinical and translational research by developing an institution-wide mentored program to identify and develop novel clinical and translational research projects; and (5) establish an institution-wide biomedical information infrastructure that can connect basic researchers, clinical researchers, caregivers and laboratories with an integrated network of information.

Public Health Relevance

(See irtstructions): The establishment of the Mount Sinai Institutes of Clinical &Translational Sciences would create an effective, efficient and centralized research administrative structure, foster and reward interdisciplinary collaborations, educate and retain the clinical and translational investigators of the future, enable translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical practice, and deliver to our diverse community new therapies and a standard of care that would have been unimaginable even five years ago.